La Danse Macabre
by VikW
Summary: In the chaos of the initial Cordyceps outbreak a group of people, friends, co-workers, family members and strangers thrown together by the apocalypse will find themselves struggling not only to survive, but to live in a world that is completely unlike the one they grew up in, and completely indifferent to their pain and many, many hardships.
1. Chapter 1

_Day 0_

The autumn in northern Colorado was an explosion of color, the green woods slowly turned into an explosion of yellow, red and burnt orange, these were landscapes that could inspire artists and doubtlessly did. The man however did not see this as he looked out through the kitchen window, raising his eyes from the magazine in his lap to look out at the quaint brownstone houses that lined both sides of Urquhart Street. The city of Bayston Hill was a vibrant, rather multicultural community with a population of 150 000 people, but the view offered from the man's kitchen window ended with the other brownstones and the people who moved back and forth, a few small children played in one of the yards and those people still returning home from work.

He redirected his gaze back to the magazine, the headlines had been the same for over a week. Of course he had heard the rumors about the 'New Black Death' and 'Super Rabies' or whatever that was supposedly spreading in South America, Australia and parts of China and east Asia now as well.

 _Garbage._ He thought to himself, nothing had changed really. The price of milk had went up by a few cents and this one TV-channel was having some kind of apocalypse-marathon running shows about doomsday preppers all day long. He found it amusing, the so-called 'experts' on the news filling the public with fear for no reason. The clickbaity news articles online written by journalists so the papers could cash-in on all the fear-mongering. It was just the same when the mad-cow disease reared its head.

He rose from the chair and made his way over to the stove, petting the Siberian Husky who walked in to the kitchen and enjoyed the attention before it headed over to the bowl of pet food on the floor. The man stirred the steaming vegetable soup, enjoying the smell and the warmth, people tended to tell him he knew his way around a kitchen.

The front door of the house opened and then closed quickly again. "Uncle David! I'm home!" A child's voice called out and hurried feet pounded the floor, moving closer and closer to the kitchen.

David had agreed to watch over his young nephew for these two weeks, maybe not the vacation he planned on in the beginning but he could not refuse his sister, not in the state she was in. The first few round of chemotherapy for her cancer put the worst strain on her body and she did not want her son to see her in such a state. David could very much understand her line of reasoning. "How was school today Marcus, did you learn anything cool?" His nephew entered the kitchen with a toothy half-smile and sat down at the kitchen table followed by the dog who then sat down at the edge of the table. "It was good, we all had to gather in the gym and the Principal, Mr. Carson talked about how there were going to be police officers at the school tomorrow, and that it's just to be safe." Marcus's eyes moved away from the dog to the box of chocolate chip cookies on the red granite kitchen counter. "Can I have two cookies, one now and one later?" Marcus was already attempting to negotiate the snacks.

"You can have two when you are done, but you have to eat all your soup in half an hour, okay?" David said and his nephew sighed. "Okay." He said and pulled out a rolled up comic book from his backpack. "Will you help me with my homework later?" David nodded, "Of course I will."

As they ate the spicy vegetable soup, Marcus spoke up. "Uncle David…" The pause was long. "When am I going to see my mom again?"

"Soon." David said with a hint of sadness.

"Why am I at your house and she is away. Has something happened?"

"You know why, she is a bit sick and has to be at the hospital for a while. But she will be back soon." Bella asked David not to tell her son too much, she wanted to do it herself later. But it was a bit of an awkward position to be in. And besides, Marcus deserved to know something at the very least. Marcus looked like he was about to say something for a while but then looked down into the bowl of soup and continued eating. After they finished and cleaned up the dishes Marcus went to get his homework.

That is when David felt his phone buzzing in his pocket, it was Chase. "Hey, how's it going?" He greeted and leaned against the wall of the kitchen. "Yo, have you been seeing the news lately? Every channel is talking about this infection. They're closing airports in Brazil, Argentina, Australia, parts of China are infected too they say. And Mexico just closed it's southern border."

David sighed. "Chase, they said that mad-cow disease and the bird-flu were supposed to exterminate all of mankind too, but here we are, alive and well. The media is hyping this up so much it's ridiculous."

"They're saying infected people lose their minds. Attack other, bite them. That it's like rabies, or some kind of zombie virus, without the whole rising from the grave thing." Chase said in a serious tone.

"So what, should I be stockpiling water and guns? Time to start boarding up the house?" David replied, his tone laced in sarcasm.

"Very funny Dave." Chase said with a hint of irritation. "Anyway, I was reading the book I borrowed from you, the one about the First World War. I'm at the last chapters and recently I read a part where they discussed the effects of the Spanish Flu and how it spread, it killed about one in five of the people it infected. If this new contagion is anything like it and is already spreading through densly populated areas like southeastern Australia and the Chinese coast, we could be looking at a much higher mortality rate."

"Chase." David said seriously. "I do not think it will be that bad, at least not here. Even if it is a very dangerous disease there are too many powerful people in the world to just stand by and let a global pandemic get out of control. The virus doesn't care who it infects whether it's plebs like us or the rich and mighty. They know that just as well as we do and they will work to stop it." He could hear Chase sigh through the phone.

"I hope so Dave. Anyway." Chase said to change the topic of the conversation. "Gimme a call if you feel bored later or anything. Though I will have work later tonight so I might not pick up after ten pm."

"Yeah, see you later man." David said. "See ya." Chase replied and then hung up.

David met Chase seven years ago, when he was an excited Associate Engineer ready for his first job at a real construction site. Chase was there as a construction worker and took David on his first tour around the site. The two became thick as brick and plaster over the years, strengthening their bonds of friendship further with each passing year.

Marcus returned with his books and set them down on the kitchen table. "Okay, let's get it done then." David said with a smile and sat down next to his nephew who opened the textbook.

 **AN: Well then, we have liftoff! This story was born during a rather sleepless night and I felt like it had some potential. I'd love to hear your comments, positive, negative, neutral, all are welcomed and each and every one will help me grow as a writer. Peace and take care!**

 **This story is rated M as mature content will be appearing in later chapters.**


	2. Chapter 2

_Day 1 – Part 1_

 _Yeah, not to shabby._ David looked at himself in the mirror with a slight smile, eyes intense. His dark blond hair felt stiff with a fresh coat of forming cream and his well-trimmed beard was freshly combed. He straightened the light blue button-down shirt. _Not to shabby at all._ Shabby would not do in any way. After all, he had a date today. Her name was Mckenzie and she was a sales rep at a pharmaceutical company based out of Bayston, they met on an online dating site and after a few days spent messaging she warmed up to the idea of a face-to-face date. She was on vacation as well, so they agreed to meet at one pm. A movie and then a cup of coffee at a really great place a few blocks down from the cinema, at was a pretty standard choice of places. Sometimes it had worked, sometimes not. David hoped for the former.

The engine of David's brownish-gray Ford Focus 2008 stopped humming as he turned the key and pulled it from the ignition before leaving the vehicle at the parking lot by the Cineplex. He was in the middle of Ezekiel Heights, one of the districts that held the wealthier of Bayston's inhabitants. Every few blocks of overpriced and ridiculously designed houses was broken up by a block of commercial enterprises and brand stores catering to the vanity of the rich.

David pulled his phone from his pocket checking the message he had felt arriving as he drove the last bit. ' _I'm at the door, black coat and my hair's in a ponytail :)'_. He elevated his gaze and his eyes started scanningthe doors of the sizable Cineplex, and there he spotted her, dressed all in black as she stood shifting her weight from one leg to the other, casually smoking a cigarette. The stylish black coat, black leggings and equally black booties contrasted quite a bit with her ginger hair which seemed to emit an orange glow as the chilly autumn breeze unsuccessfully tried to tug at it. She was quite short and thin, with large green eyes that seemed to have a natural curiosity to them. She spotted David approaching her and walked up to meet him.

"Hello, I'm Mckenzie." She said and held her hand out, the resulting handshake was firm and businesslike as if she was at work and greeted a potential customer. "I'm David." He said with a smile and gave her a curt nod. "I'm glad we could meet up today." They turned to walk back to the doors of the Cineplex after she put out her cigarette. "Me too." She replied, maintaining eye-contact. "I haven't been out in a while, especially not to the movies. Which one would you like to see?" She asked as they stood in line to the ticket booth.

" _Piper's Garden."_ David said with a satisfied nod after glancing at the films that would be shown. "Great choice, I love comedies." Mckenzie said with a smirk. "I've heard from a bunch of people that it's a great one." David replied. After they bought their tickets they started making their way through the halls to the theater, passing kids being chased about by their parents and slowpokes meandering down the hallways. "So have you heard about the super disease, they say it's like rabies or something." Mckenzie asked, and David could not help but to roll his eyes. _This again_ , he thought to himself. "Of course, but honestly, I think the media are overhyping this beyond... every reasonable level."

The rest of the way the two exchanged what they had heard about the disease. Contradictory reports from various newspapers and online new sites, she brought up wild accusations that travelled the blog-o-sphere of a grand conspiracy and shadowy organizations losing control of some kind immensely powerful bioweapon which made David laugh and reminded him of a similar story he read about secret underground cabals of doctors racing for a cure.

"Can we sit in the middle, if that's okay?" Mckenzie asked as they reached the theater. "Sure, let's go." David answered and they made their way through the rows of seats until she sat down at the spot she picked, David sitting down next to her. A gaggle of cartoon potato chips jumped around and danced across the screen before hopping into colorful bags as the commercials rolled before the lights dimmed so that the show could start. David could feel Mckenzie lean in close and grab his hand as the first credits started rolling across the large screen.

Then, the screen turned black and the lights came back on, confusion an irritation began to spread among the moviegoers. A tall, young and lanky man with long hair tied up in a ponytail, a messy goatee decorating his face and dressed in staff attire walked up on the small stage. "Ladies and gentlemen." He called out, raising his hands as dozens of people faced him. "I'm here to inform you that there been some kind of, disturbance in the lobby and we have what looks like a riot outside. I ask everybody to remain calm and…"

That is when the chaos broke out.

Half the people in the theatre got up and immediately stormed the exit while raising their voices in an agitated chorus, trying to push their way through the doors while completely ignoring the young staff member's pleas for calm. "They're all heading for the lobby, where the riot is happening." Mckenzie said with a look of confusion and worry on her face. Through the open doors David caught a glimpse of the mayhem reigning in the lobby, cars speeding by, people running and screaming. As he rose from his chair alongside his date and scrambled through the narrow isle of chairs his eyes swept the theatre, an elderly couple sat as if nailed to their seats, fear washing over their faces.

The two ran down the sloping floor and threw the doors open to find themselves in the parking lot, surrounded by utter and complete bedlam. People were running everywhere and some were attacking each other, policemen were calling out orders as a news helicopter roared overhead and the orange glow from a burning overturned van illuminated the view of cars speeding from the parking lot, some slamming into pedestrians along the way.

"There's my car!" Mckenzie yelled and tore past David with her keys in hand, speeding toward a small red sedan in parked in the nearest row of cars. She did not spot the figure a few cars away, a man, but still not completely a man. His eyes were red, the reddest eyes David had ever seen on a person, his movements were gauche and jerky, head and shoulders twitching in quick snaps and with reddish discolorations on the face. On the right, David could see his own gray Focus parked in the end of another row. "Hey! Let's get out of here!" She called back to him, not noticing that the twitching man was running toward her.

David was not sure what had happened, but he found himself sprinting toward him and throwing his shoulder against the red eyed man. The impact felt like tackling a well-grown tree and David felt a sharp twinge of pain flash in his collarbone. The… man, fell over a parked motorbike, collapsing it on the ground along with him, he lay there stunned for a moment as David looked down at him before he turned, glaring at David with intense, red eyes and rising with a growl. That is when Davis started running, he caught a glimpse of Mckenzie's car peeling out of the parking lot and speeding down the street. He made a beeline toward his own car, ripping the keys from his pocket and hastily unlocking the door. As soon as the engine spun to life he could hear the agitated voice of a news reporter on the radio.

"Unrest has broken out in several cities across the US, including Miami, Los Angeles, Bayston Hill and Atlanta. Police are trying to control the situation and according to several sources the state governments of both Florida, Colorado and California are preparing to mobilize the National Guard. The unrest is most likely connected to the spread of the pathogen which has been causing similar outbreaks of unrest in South America, Australia and East Asia, with new reports from African and European countries such as Nigeria and Spain telling of similar occurrences…" David was snapped back to the chaos around him as a truck smacked into a cement divider beside the lot. He had to get home now, he had to be there when Marcus gets home from school, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and peeled out of the parking lot.

David's hands were shaking as he slammed the door shut behind him and locked it, for a moment he just stood there and attempted to process the sights of the last few minutes. The utter panic, the chaos and the man, the man with the unnatural red eyes. He heard his Siberian Husky bolt across the house and nearly knocked him over as the dog lifted his paws onto him. David petted the dog's head. "Hey there Hussar." He said with a slight hint of panic in his voice, though being home and seeing Hussar did calm him a bit, his breathing becoming less erratic as questions chased each other back and forth across his mind. _What happens now? When does it end? How do I stay safe? How do I keep Marcus safe?_ Then it hit him like a train at full speed. He had to call the school!

He quickly sprinted into the kitchen and found the number to Marcus' school on a post-it note attached to the fridge, the line ringed but only and automated message played to answer him. "Due to the increased volume of calls, your call cannot be processed at the moment, please try again later." _Shit!_ He tried a few more times but only got the same result, he just had to wait until Marcus came home, after all he said there were going to be police officers posted at the school tomorrow, he hoped they could keep his nephew safe, David had rarely felt so helpless or so… incapable.

Instead, David dialed another number, Chase's. And after a few rings he could hear his friend's baritone voice in the speaker. "Yeah, I think it's time to board up the house." Chase said in greeting but without any of the I-told-you-so tone he would normally have had in this situation.

"Yes, you're right." Was the only thing David managed to respond with.

"Colorado was hit hard man, Florida, Pennsylvania, Cali, all hit hard. How are you doing?" Chase asked in a more serious tone.

"I'm worried." David said, Chase could probably hear to fear lacing his voice anyway. "I'm safe at home but worried, worried about Marcus, Bella, my parents... shit!" He exclaimed, pacing back and forth.

"Dave, fear is a useful emotion in a situation like this, it'll keep you alert, your eyes and ears open." Chase replied. Static washed over the line. "Chase? You still there?" David asked.

"Yeah, reception's not too good here." Chase answered. "I left my apartment, it wasn't safe and I'm outside of town now. I'm gonna try and find some safe place to hold up in. Do you still have the CB radio I gave you?" Chase won two CB radios at the state fair two years ago and gave one of them to David.

"I have it yes." David replied. "Okay great. I'll contact you at 8am tomorrow morning okay." David could hear that this was not a question. "Until then, board up the house and fill your sinks and bathtub with water, fill up as many bottles as you can because we never know when we might lose pressure in the pipes. We might lose power to so charge up your phone and laptop, and gather all batteries you have, and any supplies you might need."

"Yeah, I'll do that." David said and took a deep breath. "You're assuming the worst then?

"I'm being prepared for it." Chase replied with a heavy sigh. "The government is going to do what it can to stop the outbreak, they will quarantine cities and try to stop travel. But they'll fail. This is moving too fast, society as we know it is going to break down in the next few days. With the lack of supplies people will get desperate, they'll rob and steal. I'll be hitting the ground now before all of that shit can go down." David did not know how to respond to that, Chase often played the part of the conspiracy theorist in their social circle, but now… his words really did give David something to think about. "Also, with the infected…" There was a long pause. "Try to go for the head to stop them, they are faster than you might think so try to get the head, shoot it, stab it. They aren't themselves anymore, they are dangerous and they will not stop, not ever, so do what you have to do and feel no remor…" The line went dead with a monotonous beep.

"Chase, Chase!" David yelled into the speaker of the smartphone but no answer came. He just had to keep himself safe now until tomorrow when he would hear from Chase again. There was much to do, and much that could be done. His thoughts went to his closest neighbors on the street, there was Henry, a man in his mind forties and as he remembered in rather poor health, was he okay? Then there was Richard, a very interesting person, mixing in his character devout Christian beliefs and an Asian heritage held close to heart, what's more, Richard worked for the city, maybe he knew more about what was going on. Then there was Olivia, a woman he had never seen much of during the three years he had lived here as she was rarely home, he supposed she traveled for work quite a lot. David did not have time for endless thoughts, not now, he had to act and he decided to secure his home first. His three-floor, or four-floor brownstone when counting the ground floor had two doors, the main entrance at the front and another from the back in the large dining room which led to the small backyard. There were three windows, two small ones in the kitchen facing the street and a large one in the dining room taking up most of the wall. The brick walls were strong, the doors and windows were the weak points. David marched down into the small basement, gathering wooden planks, nails and tools he carried up to the ground floor and set to work. He was an engineer, a civil engineer more specifically with a bachelor's degree from the Pennsylvania College of Technology and seven years of professional experience, and doing what he was doing now was a piece of cake with his knowledge and well-stocked tool-chest.

First, he used the thickest boards he had in that basement to reinforce the front door, it was hard to concentrate on the task at hand, because Bayston Hill sounded like a city under siege. A strange but unyielding cacophony of speeding cars, metal crashing upon metal, screams, yells, roars and the occasional popping of gunfire while helicopters flew in the sky above. He reinforced the boarding on the door with sturdy 2x4's and saved a few of the thicker boards for the back door. He then fastened boards to cover the kitchen windows, fastening them with masonry bits and wood screws. He was not alone in doing so, several neighbors were out in the street boarding up their homes, some were visibly armed while doing so. David repeated the procedure on the other side of the house, boarding up the door and the large window, he proceeded to seal gaps with duct tape and cut out viewports since so much visibility had been blocked by the sturdy boards. He decided to perhaps improve on the fortifications later, but felt worn from the work and decided to go up to the second floor bathroom instead, when he got there he turned on the bathtub's faucet. Water was running as if the world was not burning outside, David stoppered the drain, letting the tub fill up and proceeded to do the same with the sink, he then collected some empty bottles from around the house and filled them up in the kitchen, Hussar watched him work with curiosity shining in his canine eyes. Speaking of the dog, David noticed that his bowl was nearly empty so he grabbed the pet food from a cupboard and filled the bowl, as the dog walked up and sniffed the bowl for a while before eating David made a mental note to himself to get more pet food soon as he had almost used his last.

He heard the heavy thrum of a bus's engine outside and looked through one of the viewports, Marcus was home! His nephew was running down up the stairs to the door when David opened. "Uncle David!" He said, panting with his glasses askew. "All the classes got cancelled and we had to gather in the auditorium for a long time before the police officers walked us out to the busses and the bus driver just drove past jeeps with army guys on them, and there was this man with his eyes all red who was trying to get on the bus but we just kept driving, and then…" David raised his hand to silence his young nephew's animated voice.

"Marcus, listen to me this is very important." He said and knelt down to look his nephew right in the eyes with a serious gaze. "It's very important that we keep very quiet and have all the doors locked okay, we can't leave any of them open." Marcus nodded. "Okay Uncle." David ruffled his hair with a smile. "Good, go get yourself a snack okay." His nephew took off his shoes and ran over to the kitchen, target set on the remaining chocolate chip cookies. David took a deep breath, thinking of what to do next but his thoughts were interrupted by his young nephew who returned with a half-eaten cookie in hand. "Uncle David, could you call mom and see if she's okay?" Marcus said a wary voice. David nodded, Marcus had every right to call his mother, the situation demanded it, Bella would understand, she would have to. "I'll give her a call right now."

Nobody picked up at the Saint Adalbert Cancer Center, not after the first try, not after the second, it took six tried before the hurried voice of a panicked young woman could be heard on the other end. "Yes, what? This is the Cancer Center."

"Hello. I'm calling about a patient, Bella. Last name Carmine." David said with worry clear in his voice, this did not sound good. Marcus was close enough to hear the whole conversation, sitting right next to his uncle on the couch. "What's your relation to miss Carmine?" The woman asked.

"I'm her brother. David Carmine. Please I need to speak to her, my nephew, her son is right here with me, we have to talk to her, okay?" He insisted.

"Her brother… oh… I… I'm not sure how to tell you this." David swore he could feel his heart constrict into something half its size. "She's gone, I'm so, so sorry Mr. Carmine. I… oh god I'm so sorry."

"What do you mean, she's gone?" His throat felt dry. "I'm so sorry." The woman repeated, sounds of hurried steps, shouts and the clangor of moving cargo accompanied her voice. "I have to go, we're moving the remaining patients to safety under escort with our supplies, I… I have to go. I'm sorry." A static beep informed him that she had hung up. David stared at the table in front of the couch, images filled his head, horrible images of his sister's life ending in that hospital. She had died there, alone, screaming, terrified, in a way much more violent and bloody than the reason she was there in the first place. David turned, slowly, to face his nephew. Marcus stared at his uncle, the boy's eyes were swollen with tears and his bottom lip was quivering. David sat there and opened his arms, his nephew's body shook with each heavy sob as the boy moved in and hugged his uncle, David could not think of anything else to do as the gruesome images kept flashing inside his mind.

Marcus cried there until sleep overcame him.


	3. Chapter 3

_Day 1 – part 2_

David laid his now sleeping nephew across the couch and covered him with a blanket before he rose. Taking a deep breath and running one of his hands through his hair. Marcus just lost his mother, and his uncle lost his sister. There was a strange mixture of clenched pain and numbness inside David, one that he had never felt before, not in this manner. He was sad, that much was true, Bella was dead, dead, gone. His big sister had… ceased to be. I did not feel this real before, it had not felt like this when his grandfather died, nowhere near this in fact. Then there were the unwelcome thoughts, the ones that scared him. Those that whispered, maybe… maybe it was for the best? Bella did not have to live through the terrors that were surrounding his little safe haven, was it a twisted act of mercy? Euthanasia?

More immediate concerns then filled his mind. Survival. There were still things to do. He had to gather his supplies, he had to eat, he had not eaten since breakfast and he had to reinforce the house. He tried to keep himself busy, but the dryness did not leave his mouth as he decided to reinforce the doors and windows, still the weak points of the house while hoping that the work would clear his head as focus had to be placed on the tasks ahead. Sheets of metal and bars were not in any sort of abundant supply in that basement of his but he used what he had, lining the doorframe and window frames with metal fastened with hot glue. He used some more glue and smeared it on the outside windowsill before breaking some glass jars and gluing the shards to the sill, maybe it would not slow down an infected person but a normal human being hatching any break-in plans would face one more obstacle. The final addition was that of an improvised early warning system as David cut holes into cans and hung them in bundles where people, or others, skulking by the walls and windows would pass. The cans were heavy enough not to get moved unless a strong wind blew or someone bumped them by accident. It was no alarm but it would have to do, and he needed something since a lot of visibility through the windows was now blocked by boards.

After that, he tore through the house like a whirlwind from top to bottom, gathering all his supplies that did not fit in the sustenance category in a single spot, namely the table in the first floor dining room so they would be readily accessible in one place. The pile grew with a few warm blankets, a backpack, a first aid kit from the car and a bottle of aspirin. These things were quickly joined by a knife, some toiletries including shampoo and two bars of soap. From a closet came a GPS, a flashlight and a pack of batteries. After these initial supplies were gathered David made a more careful second sweep of his home to not miss anything else that could be of use. Opening a locked drawer in his desk in the master bedroom he took out a Comanche IIA revolver that he had bought for home protection four years ago along with a holster and a full box of .38 Special ammunition. While he had a set of kitchen knives he now remembered the stainless steel cleaver he had bought at a trade show, it could surely come in handy. He found a length of rope hiding under a box in the basement when he went down to get the tool-chest. _Ah yes, the book from that class I took._ David thought to himself as he tried to remember anything else that cloud be useful, he had taken a course in plant biology in college and sure enough, the book was still there at the top of a bookshelf. David dusted it off and flipped through the pages, it could help in identifying species of edible plants should the need ever come.

The food in the house would perhaps need to last a few days, David resisted the urge to make a larger meal despite his overwhelming hunger, he had to eat since breakfast and that was many hours ago. The two sat and ate in silence, a heavy silence broken only by the clatter of cutlery upon plates and glasses raised from the table before being set down again. Marcus had slept while his uncle was busy. Or maybe he had just pretended for most of that time, he looked up at his uncle from time to time during the meal but as soon as David turned to him his nephew turned away, looking out through a small viewport as the orange light of the setting sun bathed the city in a mixed glow of orange and ruddy red. Pylons of smoke rose in the distance, and the background noise of crumbling human civilization had not abetted. The howl of sirens was almost constant, an ever-present wail to set the background to the gunshots that popped in the distance. It seemed Urquhart Street had been relatively spared, no infected had come through during the day. Maybe police barricades somewhere had walled off most of the infected in other parts of town?

Only after they had finished their meal did Marcus speak up. "What are we going to do, uncle?"

"We are going to stay in our home and be safe, nobody can get us in here." David was not sure of it, in the persisting numbness Chase's words made more and more sense with every passing minute. Maybe this truly was the end of life as he knew it? He did not want to think those thoughts but they invaded his mind with a merciless frenzy. Perhaps… perhaps it was only due to Bella's death, maybe he would calm down a bit tomorrow, his head free and clear of its current dismal state.

"Yeah but… We can't stay here forever, what are we going to do when we have to go? And we don't even need to be here now that mom is…" His words trailed off.

David took a deep breath as he cleaned the dishes. "If we have to go then we will, for now this is the safest place we can be. I made sure that nothing can get in here."

"But we need a plan right? Doctor Daniela Star in _Savage Starlight_ says that you always need to have a plan, so what's ours?" Marcus retorted.

"You know what." David said and turned to his nephew with a smile. "Why don't you help me make a plan? Think about where we can find things, where we could hide if we have to." Marcus just loved giving his opinion and helping, and maybe this could take his mind of off his mother's death for at least a few minutes.

"Okay of course I'll help, let me think a little." Marcus said with a smile and jump from his chair before running up the stairs, probably to the room he had been staying over the last few days to formulate whatever plan floated about in his mind. After David finished cleaning the dishes he filled up Hussar's water bowl and food bowl, there was now perhaps only one meal left in the bag of pet food.

Light was fading from the city and night began to fall, soon the stars would be lighting up the sky, their light mixing with that of the lampposts and the fires in the city. There was a twisted beauty in the orange glow if one could look past the fact that it was caused by such chaos, madness and violence that now gripped the city. Strangely though, one of the things that bothered him the most was the isolation. None of the neighbors had answered the phone when he called, it made David feel all the more uneasy, what if they were sick in their homes and needed help? And what of his parents, he had tried to call a few times but there was no answer from them either, it only made him feel even more powerless and helpless as the situation around him, and across the world seemed to just spiral out of control. David had been so confident that everything was going to be okay, that it was nothing to worry about. And yet there he sat on the couch in his boarded up home, tablet in hand as he looked at the live newsfeed on the city of Bayston Hill's homepage. They were maddeningly tight-lipped about it all. All it said was for people to stay indoors unless it was an absolute emergency, to comply with any and all city personnel, especially the BHPD and the National Guard and take care with any individuals suspected of infection. The CDC homepage did however provide much more valuable information. CBI, or Cordyceps Brain Infection outbreaks had been reported in ten States and two US Territories by now, with the greatest activity in densely populated areas on the east and west coasts. The total number of cases had reached over 60 000, with more coming in every hour, it was spreading like wildfire across the entire globe. People were advised to stay away from heavily populated areas with a lot of people like supermarkets, schools and hospitals along with other places prone to large congregations of people, they were advised to stay in their homes and to avoid contact with infected individuals at all costs. Persons infected with CBI tended to have reddened eyes and reddish lesions on their skin, they are extremely aggressive and are prone to frequent minor muscle spasms as the Cordyceps growth damages the brain and the nerves. _It's a damn mushroom_. That was the thing that struck David the most. The Cordyceps is a fungus. A fungus that infects the human brain, growing inside the brain tissue and killing the brain's cells, thus taking away higher cognitive functions and turning the person into a crazed, aggressive and gibbering lunatic.

"Uncle!" David snapped up from the tablet. "There a whole bunch of people at Mr. Henderson's house, they look really angry." His nephew said and came into the room, they went over to the window and pulled the curtains away just enough to see down to the Henderson residence, a brownstone house like the other's on the street. David gulped, it looked like a damn riot, or a lynch mob, on Urquhart Street!? Dozens of people had gathered on the sidewalk in front of the home, far too many were armed with a varying assortment of weapons, baseball bats, hatchets, kitchen knives, golf clubs, David couldn't see any guns however, though some had flashlights that they pointed at the house, a hum of many agitated voices radiated from the mob. "Are we going to check what's happening?" Marcus asked, not taking his eyes from the agitated crowd. An older man in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair leaned out of a third floor window and began shouting at the crowd, the crowd shouted back. They could barely make out the shouts but some were indeed intelligible.

"Get him out here!"  
"We want to see!"  
"He's got to be infected!"  
"Prove that you have nothing to hide!"

David recognized the man as Tim Henderson, a small business owner in the city who lived with his wife and two sons. They had exchanged the occasional good morning but never really anything beyond that. Henderson slammed the window shut and pulled down the blinds but that did not make the small crowd loose interest and disperse, instead a bottle crashed against the wall of the Henderson residence and a young woman stepped up, standing before the crowd and pointing at the house while yelling in an aggressive tone which only riled the gathered people up even more.

"I'll go see what's going to on." David said and turned to look his nephew right in the eye. "Lock the door behind me and don't go out, you must absolutely not open the door to anybody but me, okay? And if anything out there gets out of hand, call 911."

David left through the door and heard as it was locked behind him, the brisk walk up to the crowd did not take much time at all. The only way to find out what was happening was by going over there. Why were they threatening the Hendersons? Were they infected with the Cordyceps spores? He recognized a few people among the mass, in the back was Mrs. Hurtado, a middle-aged woman living just a few houses away around the corner. As he rushed the last bit down the street, Mrs. Hurtado walked up to greet him. "David, can you believe this?" A clear concern in her voice laced by the Spanish accent that seemed more pronounced when she was concerned. "And infected person, in our neighborhood!" She said pointing toward the Henderson house. She wore a red and white dress that accentuated her shapely form and seemed quite out of place in the current situation. David remembered that Richard had said she was a contender for Miss Puerto Rico once before emigrating to the US.

"Are you sure? Are the Henderson's sick with the infection?" David said, concern flaring up within him as well as he rose to his toes trying to get a better look at the house.

"Yes, it's Mr. Henderson's older son, he has the Cordyceps." Mrs. Hurtado says. "We asked him to show it to us, we want to see for ourselves if it is true or not. I mean, if he is healthy there is nothing to hide but he just locked himself up in there. By the way, aren't you friends with Henderson?"

"No, not really if I'm to be honest." David replied but Hurtado did not seem to care.

"Do you know Adelynn? She's kind of in charge here, let's tell her you know Tim Henderson." Hurtado said and set of through the crowd, motioning for David to follow her. As they pushed their way through to the front of the mob the shouts demanding that the son be brought out grew a bit louder.

Adelynn Riley stood at the front of the house, hands firmly grasping a stout stick in her hand and waving it at the Henderson house. David had never really met her before but knew she lived in the neighborhood a few blocks down. Riley's long black hair whipped around her face as she paced back and forth. "Adelynn, this is David." Mrs. Hurtado said as they approached, "He knows Tim Henderson, they live on the same street. He can get his son to come out here." Adelynn did not reply, she simply turned to the crowd. "Everyone! Listen up!" She called out, getting the mob's attention. "This man is a friend of Tim Henderson, he'll make the infected kid come out!" She then turned to David. "How to you want to do this, should we knock on the door or do you want to talk to the people first."

David took a deep breath and sighed it out. _What the hell is this, why did I get out and get myself involved?_ But, what if the mob was right? What if there was really an infected person in that house? Having an infected person in the neighborhood was a danger to everybody, David did not want to sit around and just let the infection incubate and spread further. "Let's just get this done." David said and marched up to the door, giving it a few heavy knocks as Adelynn walked up beside him. "Hey! Mr. Henderson?. This is Dave Carmine, your neighbor from down the street. We need to know if your son is infected or not, this is important and we will not leave until we know for sure. So open the door, or we will open it anyway and check for ourselves. It's your choice." David could not see as the people behind him tightened their grip on the weapons and some stood with bottles and rock ready to throw. "Get the fuck away from my house! All of you!" Was the only response, voice by a panicked, distraught man from behind the door.

The people at the front of the mob must have heard the reply as their voices grew louder and angrier, a barrage of bottles smashed against the house and a few rocks went in through the windows, the mob had been riled up and smelled blood. The atmosphere of violence intoxicated them, turning them from friends and neighbors into a herd braying for a chance to do some bloody work. Adelynn stood her ground beside David. "Your son is sick, he'll infect everyone unless you get him out of here and to a hospital."

The only answer this time came in the form of a second floor window opening above them, Tim Henderson stuck his head out and shouted at the mob. "Just get away from here! Get out!" He drew a rifle and fired a shot into the air. The bloodlust started turning into real and immediate panic as frightened screams arose from the crowd and some people scattered off, sprinting toward their homes to escape the scene and madness that unfolded within it.

"Mr. Henderson, you have to…" Adelyn said standing her ground alongside David and the more determined people in the mob. "Leave! My! Home!" Tim Henderson roared and this time lowered the rifle and fired into a trash can on their left, sending refuse across the street as the can went spinning and falling to the pavement with a loud smack. Now the mob was in full flight, David ran back toward his home as a trio of vehicles rolled in on the far edge of the street, powerful searchlights scanning the dispersing crowd. "This is the National Guard! Your district is under a strict curfew! Please return to your homes immediately!" The message repeated through the bullhorn as doors opened and closed with people running back into their homes. Marcus unlocked the door and quickly closed it after his uncle was inside, the two looked through the window. The street was empty and desolate once more, the only motion came from the three Humvees slowly rolling down the street, repeating their message again and again.

"What happened uncle David!?" Marcus said with a mix of excitement and fear, shining through wide open eyes.

"Mr. Henderson's older son, he could have been sick and sick people can be very dangerous." David replied. "Like the person with the red eyes that tried to get on your school bus, Mr. Henderson's son could be sick in the same way."

"Okay uncle." Marcus said and nodded before looking down at the floor, looking for words. "Why did he shoot at everyone?"

"Because he did not want us to see for ourselves if his son was sick or not, he wanted to scare us away from the house." David said, his nephew nodded but did not look at him.

David walked up the stairs and sat down in the couch, turning on the TV to continue his studying of the news and the infection that was interrupted by the whole micro-riot at the Henderson house. The local news at 10 am showed an intersection in downtown Bayston, the reporter stood in front of a police checkpoint manned by several police officers all armed with shotguns and clad in Kevlar vests. "This is Hannah Perelli live from the intersection at the Rutherford Shopping Center in downtown Bayston Hill, at the checkpoint that was recently attacked by nearly a dozen infected individuals. They showed absolutely no sign of stopping even as the police fired warning shots."

Marcus came sipping on a glass of milk and sat down in the couch next to his uncle, Hussar laying on the floor and seemingly disinterested in the news. The reporter fell silent and held a finger to her earpiece. "Ladies and gentlemen, we have received some footage of an attack perpetrated by infected individuals barely a few minutes ago, we would like to warn minors and people sensitive to violence as the footage is very graphic."

David did not tell his nephew to leave. Marcus had already seen an infected person and there might be a need to deal with some very harsh realities over the next few days. He may only be nine years old, but he should at least be as prepared as possible for that. The image cuts from the reporter to the studio where the caster nervously drinks from her cup with the channel logo. "For those still with us, here is the footage of the horrible attack."

The footage showed a middle-aged man in a business suit driving a black luxury sedan stopping at a red light, when a group of crazed men and women suddenly rush the car, banging at the windows, one of them smashes a jagged hole through the driver's side window and proceeds to squeeze herself into the car through the jagged hole, not caring much about tearing her own skin on the sharp glass shards, the sound picks up feral snarls mixed with screams of pain as the infected force their way in, the video cuts as a spray of blood covers the window. Marcus wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, his hands shook and his breath came in quick, shallow gulps as the newscaster returned to the screen. "Health officials want to warn everybody and urge you not to expose yourselves to anybody displaying the symptoms of the Cordyceps Brain Infection. These include reddened eyes, twitchy movements and erratic, aggressive behavior, this is Markisha Stewart, Channel Nine News." The image cuts to more footage showing random attacks throughout Colorado from Denver to Aspen and Trinidad before the studio and newscaster return. "Government officials are urging all people to stay indoors and reinforce their homes by boarding up doors and windows, conserve food and water, gather emergency resources and deny any person showing or suspected of showing symptoms from entering their residence. If anybody you know becomes infected, quarantine them in an enclosed space and notify the police by dialing 911."

Markisha Stewart was a veteran reporter at Channel Nine, her usual composure however seemed blown away, her eyes were dark with heavy swelling and her breathing was quick, her voice frightened. "The White House is calling this a national disaster of incredible proportions and the President will be appearing before the nation in a live speech at any minute. Military units are being deployed to major cities in order to help local police and security forces to keep order. The Red Cross and FEMA are beginning to set up aid camps near the worst affected cities, namely Miami and Los Angeles while the CDC is in contact with state governments regarding the activation of epidemic emergency plans." Her voice seemed to break. "The White House is in close contact with foreign governments to plan a coordinated response, but the only reports from the WHO have been that there are no treatments for the so-called Cordyceps Brain Infection."

That was when Hussar's ears popped up and the dog rushed down the stairs, sniffing at the door before letting a low, menacing growl escape from his throat. David rose from the couch and made his way down the stairs to get the dog away from the door, but as he descended the steps he saw it through one of the spaces between the boards on the windows. The man stood in a contorted pose, sudden spasms tugging at his limbs as the head was tilted back, a dirty gray two-piece suit clad the man, and the signs of infections were quite clear. His eyes were a deep shade of red and a copious amount of drool covered his chin. And he stared at the house, as if whether by some coincidence or by some hidden sixth sense, he knew there were people inside.

"It's one of those things." Marcus said in a low, tense voice as his eyes fixed on the… thing that walked the small yard.

"Marcus, I need you go to your room and hide, it's not safe here while an infected person outside." Marcus looked up at his uncle, turning his gaze away from the window, his body shook while he held his arms to his sides. "Okay, I'll be super quiet." He said and quickly turned, scrambling up the stairs toward his room.

David made his decision. That thing was… it was a threat, a grave threat. What if it attracted more of them? He picked up the revolver and loaded the weapon before going up to the second floor where the windows were not boarded. David took a took a few deep breaths as the infected man wandered about a bit on the front yard, scanning the home, looking for an easier entrance. David opened the window and raised the revolver, taking aim at the man below. _Go for the head, just like Chase said._ He thought to himself and tried to place the sights on the jerking head. He had never shot at a target like this before, his throat felt dry and his stomach twisted on itself. The man down there was dangerous, aggressive, he could not be reasoned or bargained with. The infected were relentless and brutal, he had seen that today at the cinema, on the drive home, on the news, he had seen them kill. David's heart pounded and his breathing picked up pace, this shot meant everything.

He squeezed the trigger and the revolver jolted in his hand with a loud pop. The bulled missed the head and instead smacked into the infected man's shoulder, snapping him forward and tossing him to the ground. He did not seem to care to much about the gunshot wound as he turned his head toward the man who had shot him, letting out a crazed, bestial howl and trying to stand up. David fired again, hitting the mid-back, the third shot finally pierced the skull and after a few spasms the man on the front yard stopped moving, life escaping him after letting out a low gurgling noise. David closed the window and sat down on the floor, eyes wide and breaths quick as adrenaline flooded his system. But as the adrenaline receded he became aware of the fact he had taken a life, he looked down at his hand, still gripping the revolver. The corpse that lay in an expanding pool of blood had been a man before. He had hopes, dreams, ambitions, fears and vices but the Cordyceps had taken all of them away, and now David had finished off whatever had remained within. The man barely noticed his nephew standing in the doorway, looking at his uncle with a face set in stone, knowing full well what David had done. He did not speak to his nephew when he rose from the floor and got a spare bedsheet from a closet. Before David unlocked the door he fastened the holster to his belt and let his weapon rest at his side. The shine emitted by the streetlights mingled with the glow of distant fires in the city, making for a ruddy yellow glow that illuminated the evening as David walked over to the corpse that lay sprawled on his front yard. He did not look carefully, he did not study his recent deed, he merely covered the body with the white bedsheet, and then he looked on for a second. Observing the form under the sheet and the three red spots where the blood wetted the fabric.

He felt different as he walked back through the door, he felt detached. Whatever happened it the future the David Carmine that woke up this morning had changed, he had changed and he would likely never be the same. He had taken a life, he had killed somebody. That somebody had been a threat, he could have hurt him, and more importantly he could have hurt Marcus. David could not allow that to happen but that did not change what he had done. It weighed on David, this chaos would claim many more lives. Chase was right, he had been right all along and David had been nothing but a damned fool. Civilization would collapse, it was only a matter of time.

The rest of it all was a blur, the day had been draining, perhaps more draining than any other day in David's 32-year long life. The stress of the outbreak, the physical and mental fatigue caught up with him all at once. He led his nephew upstairs to his room and helped him get ready for bed, he insisted on having his clothes on. In case of an emergency. Who can argue with that? He climbed into bed and pulled up the covers, but as David went to close the curtains and block the glow from the streetlights from entering the room his nephew protested. "I'd feel better that way."

"Okay, sleep well." David said and walked up to the master bedroom on the third floor. He laid the holstered revolver on the floor next to the bed and crashed into the bed fully clothed. He even managed to feel safe. The sounds of gunfire, the howls of the infected, of helicopters flying and military vehicles patrolling the streets mixed into a single apocalyptic symphony, but somehow, he managed to fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_Day 2 – Part 1_

David did not awaken with a sharp twitch, he did not scream in fear to greet the new day. He rose calmly, with the outside still dark, the sun barely starting to rise above the horizon. He looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand, it was barely above six am. The outbreak seemed to have restored his internal clock, good, he did not want to miss eight am when Chase would contact him on the radio. David clambered out of bed and walked over to the window, gazing out across the city. The pylons of smoke had multiplied over the night, there were several more now as it seemed like Ezekiel Hills and Downtown Bayston were combating the worst of the outbreak in the city, there was a large pylon rising from the vicinity of Maple Grove as well, one of the city's more dangerous and unwelcoming parts, plagued with criminality and gang violence.

Urquhart had still mostly been spared, but this day... it made David feel like this is it. Either the authorities manage to get the outbreak under some kind of control today or... or this could indeed be it. He swallowed hard, the thought of… life as he knew it just ending filled him with a cold angst. Maybe there was no going back and the worst part of it was that David expected to feel even worse than he did. While he very much wanted to go back to bed and just hide from it all, he could not bring himself to do it. Something within him seemed like it was pushing him to action, pushing him to fight for his survival. Maybe it was just human nature, a more primitive drive hidden behind the veneer of a civilized man, something hidden, lying dormant within every person on the planet. His stomach growled in anger, demanding food. While they did have food for some three days, maybe five if they stretched it out strictly David could not help but wonder how long he would have to stay inside, unable to restock. How long would the curfew persist? Will the authorities distribute supplies? Is it even safe to go outside? With the infection spreading at the rate is did, what does the city, what do the United States look like on day two after the first outbreaks in the country? A few weeks ago David had watched a documentary about the Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in US history. The affected areas fell into near complete bedlam and anarchy, infrastructure failed and desperate people looted stores and homes for supplies, the level of violence increased. And the Cordyceps outbreak was so, so much worse than Katrina ever was.

The street below his was desolate, no signs of human activity could be seen. An overturned car blocked one end an abandoned Humvee stood nearby. David took a deep breath and thought about his family. His sister was gone, and he had not managed to contact his parents. He and Marcus may be the only ones left. David had to protect his nephew, nothing was more important than keeping Marcus alive and teaching him how to survive in this new world, the angst turned into a silent sense of determination. He changed out of the clothes he had worn yesterday and put on fresh ones before walking over to the bathroom, as he washed up he realized that they were running low on both toothpaste and toilet paper, such simple things. David could never had imagined that access to such basic hygiene products would ever diminish during his own lifetime.

David knocked lightly on his nephew's door, not wanting to wake the boy if he still slept. "Come in." A voice sounded from behind the door and David opened. Hussar, who had slept in Marcus' room stood up and wagged his tail. Marcus was already up and about, the bed was made and he was dressed, ready to meet a new day. Yesterday they found out that his mother had died during the very first day of the outbreak. David had not had any time to mourn and he was worried about Marcus, it could only feel worse for him yet there he stood with a toothy grin on his face, David smiled back. _At least he's smiling_ , he thought to himself.

"How are you, did you get any sleep last night?" David asked. "Yeah I did." Marcus answered. "I'm good, hungry though, I wanted to go down and get something to eat but… I wanted to wait for you first."

"Okay then, let's go down and get some breakfast. And good job cleaning up in your room by the way." David said and ruffled his nephew's hair as the three made their way down the stairs to the kitchen on the ground floor. Hussar sat down by his empty bowl and looked up at David with his big, canine eyes and drooled. David went to get the pet food and gave Hussar the last that remained, only one meal. If he did not get any more pet food today than he would just have to feed Hussar with his and Marcus' food. With the current state of human civilization, food had become much more valuable in developed nations such as the US just overnight. No longer would a brisk walk to the store down the street or a quick call to a food truck service take care of all of one's needs. The authorities would likely implement strict rationing very soon. The fridge and freezer were well-stocked enough to keep and adult, a child and a dog alive for a few days without the danger of starvation hanging overhead with some conservation efforts. Marcus was already setting the table as David set to work preparing breakfast while Hussar tucked in on the last of his dog food.

As he worked while his nephew sat at the table, nose buried in a _Savage Starlight_ comic, David's mind wandered to what he was going to do. He could just try to barricade himself in the house, stocking up on food and supplies, but the infection seemed to run rampant, the numbers of people stricken with the Cordyceps growing by the minute. A city of 150 000 inhabitants would result in a lot of infected roaming the streets. Maybe it was better to try and find a farm or some other place in the countryside? Far away from population centers. Be that as it may, he had to get into contact with Chase, that man had been much more prepared than David, he would know how to survive this madness, they would just have to meet up and survive together.

Soon there were two steaming plates of warm food on the table, David made them each an omelet with vegetables and cheese along with fried strips of bacon and half a baloney sandwich. After all, who knew what this day would bring, they would need their strength to be able to face any challenge thrown at them.

"Wow." Marcus said, looking at the tasty meal before him. "This is a lot of food, I hope we won't run out." He said before stuffing his mouth with the omelet until his cheeks puffed out before his swallowed all the food with a large gulp and repeating the process, they sat eating in silence for a while before David replied.

"We have to be strong in the coming days." David said flatly as he took a sip of tea. "For that we will have to eat well."

"Okay…" Marcus said, looking down at his now mostly empty plate. "But, we're going to have to get more soon won't we? And Hussar's food is all gone."

David gave his nephew a smile. "Remember what I said yesterday? I wanted you to help me make a good plan."

Marcus gave a large smile in return and quickly gulped down the last of his food. "Okay, wait here uncle David, I have something that I made and I want to show you."

Marcus jumped from his chair and ran up the stairs to his room with an excited smile on his face while David gathered the empty plates from the table, over the clatter of dishes being washed David could hear his nephew collecting something before running down the stairs again. Marcus soon burst into the kitchen with a large gameboard along a collection of toy figurines and blocs cradled in his arms, he spilled the entire collection out on the small kitchen table and began to arrange the objects around on the board, David recognized a large green block as his home and the two small figures as himself and Marcus, there were drawings of city landmarks, cars and trucks along with trees.

"Okay, so we're gonna run out of stuff that we need, like food, soda, soap and batteries and stuff." He said and picked up the two figures by the homeblock. "Doctor Star and Captain Ryan are you and me." He said and set down the heroes from his Savage Starlight comics. "The trolls are the infected, and these are the other people." He said and pointed to the figurines that likely came with some tabletop roleplaying game.

"The lady on the news said that people are stealing from stores and pharmacies. So maybe we should go somewhere else to find food and water, so I made a plan for where we can go and get the things we'll need." Marcus set two more square blocks down on the board and moved the two action figures to one of them. "We can go to my school. The cafeteria has all kinds of food like pizza, soda, chicken nuggets, cheeseburgers and ice cream. The nurse's office has medicine and there's science class too where they have all kinds of chemicals and stuff."

Marcus moved the two figures to a drawing of a house with a red cross on it. "Doctor Horton's office is near mom's job, that's where we went when I was sick. There is a big fence all around it but Doctor Horton is really nice and if we say that you're my uncle and that I'm sick I bet he'll give us some medicines."

David had stood leaned over the table listening to his nephew explanation. He had not though much of it at first, he had seen it as a distraction for Marcus so that the boy would not fill him mind with thoughts of his mother's death. David smiled. "This is really good Marcus." He said and patted his nephew on the back. "And I'm really proud of you that you figured it all out on your own. Clean it up for now and I'll figure out the best way to make use of your plan okay." Marcus nodded, a bright shine of enthusiasm on his face as he gathered up the figures and the makeshift map. David heard the unmistakable sound of a heavy truck passing through the area, he doubted the sanitation department was still servicing the city so it could not have been a garbage truck, had to be the military enforcing curfew. Hussar was pawing at the front door, he had not been walked since yesterday but at least he had not gone to the bathroom in the house, _yet_.

A voice erupted from the CB radio a few minutes past eight am. "Hey! Dave! Are you there?" Chase's baritone voice said through the speaker.

"Yeah I'm here, hi." David replied, feeling a sense of relief over the fact that his friend was safe, well, safe enough to call if nothing else as David filled him in on the events of the past day.

"Shit…" Chase sighed as David told him about the infected man, the body now laying in his front yard. "Are you… okay?"

David sighed, the numbness within him had in part been replaced with a certain fearful determination, the hidden survivor deep within a person, something remaining since the days of the Neolithic age and even before that, before humanity even stood upright, before it even crawled out of the oceans. It was the natural drive of self-preservation hard-wired into every lifeform. "I guess I am… I don't know…" Marcus came down from his room as he heard the conversation.

"Is it Mr. Chase?" He asked with a grin. "Can I talk to him?" Chase had come over for dinner a few days earlier, Marcus thought he was really cool. "Not right now." David answered and Marcus sat down on the couch with a pout, arms crossed over his chest.

"Dave, tell the little dude I said hi." Chase said before continuing. "Anyway, I don't know what your plans are but it might be for the best of you stay put, at least for a day or so. How are you on food and water."

"Pretty good actually, I have food for a few days and water to last even longer."

"Okay great." Chase replied. "Have you checked the news yet? Not just Bayston but all of Colorado got it pretty bad, Denver is kind of still holding it together but the rest of the State…" There was a long pause. "This is not going to be over any time soon and it looks like Bayston is going to be quarantined, the army is setting up checkpoints and a FEMA-camp is going up. There have been reports of widespread looting and rioting so I'd be careful if you need to go outside. I've also been in contact with a friend of mine, he and a few others are trying to scope out a safe place. We're probably going to have to join up with them in the next few days or so."

"Okay." David said. "When should we try to meet up?"

"I'll be coming by your house sometime tomorrow. I'll give you a call in the morning, around the same time all right?"

"Okay, see you tomorrow man."

"Yeah, see you Dave." Static filled the air.

David went to the upstairs bathroom and looked at the well-filled tub. It was a decent supply to augment what he already had, he turned on the faucet and water still flowed out, although less than yesterday. "Marcus!" He called down to his nephew. "I need you to find all the empty bottles you can okay."

"Okay!" Marcus replied and he could her the scampering of feet down below. They filled every bottle they could find in the house and in the end they stood proudly over twenty more bottles of water although some was lost as there had been a small layer of dirt and dust on the surface which had gathered during the night, so some of the water went down the drain. David turned on the faucet again and let the tub fill a second time, maybe the water would stop running tomorrow. _Better safe than sorry._

As he walked out of the bathroom he made his way to the window, looking outside. The homes along the desolate street did not look too badly damaged except for the Henderson home, but what of the rest of the neighborhood? Cars laid abandoned along the roadsides and a number of desolate looking houses had their driveway empty. The occupants must have fled their homes during the night in an attempt to find a safer place to bunker down. David felt an urge to go out, to see what was happening in his neighborhood, perhaps there would be a chance to talk to people, maybe someone would have some supplies to share or trade? Was it worth it though? If he ran into desperate people or a band of infected? Could he run away? Could he hide? Could he pull the trigger and kill again? He weighed the decision, his curiosity fighting with his urge to keep himself safe and the paramount duty to keep his nephew safe. He tried to rationalize away the need to go out, but then he would never know what was going on out there and have no chance of finding more supplies. Then, he did the exact opposite, rationalizing the need to stay, that it was imperative since here he could keep both Marcus and Hussar close, he was barricaded inside his home and had all the supplies needed to last until Chase arrived with a good amount left over.

The battle continued for a while until a decision was made, the decision to go outside. He just needed to know what was happening in his own immediate vicinity. The dog could get out of the house for a while, Huskies were an energetic breed. They need some regular motion and exercise otherwise they would be unhappy. And when Siberian Huskies were unhappy they could howl out loudly and break objects, none of which would be good in the current situation. David would have both Hussar and Marcus along, they would not be gone for long he tried to think.

"Hey, Marcus." David said as he went to his nephew's room. Marcus was sitting on the bed, a heap of comics surrounding him and Hussar was laying in the corner. "Why don't you grab your schoolbag and come with me, we will go outside for a while. I think Hussar needs to go to the bathroom soon." He said turning his eyes to the dog.

"Is it going to be safe outside?" Marcus says warily, looking up at his uncle.

"Our part of town's doesn't look like it was a place where a lot of people got sick. I bet it's safe." David hoped his calm tone and easy facial expression could convince Marcus, after all, if all of them were together they could help each other, spot threats and he could defend his nephew, what if someone or _something_ broke into the home while he was away?

Marcus looked down at the ground, then at the dog, then at his uncle. "Okay uncle David, I'll go get ready." He said and hopped from the bed. After they both got ready David clipped Hussar's leash to his collar and the three left the house, carefully locking the door behind them before warily making their way down the street. An ambulance sped by when they got unto the intersection between Urquhart and Constitution Street, it's sirens blared and it was followed by a police car, barrels pointing up through open windows. Hussar found a patch of grass and squatted over it, for once David left it where it was, reasoning that there was not much sense in cleaning up after a dog in such a situation. They seemed too busy to stop and deal with two curfew violators. Once the vehicles pass the clamor of the city returned, the constant noises in the distance. A crazed how from an infected person, a panicked scream, a door slamming shut, occasional gunshots. The thunder of car motors mixed with the heavy noise of military vehicles and helicopters in the skies above. The air was warm for an autumn day and oddly pleasant, David wondered if the jacket maybe was too much as he felt some sweat on his back. The street was dead, take away the background noise and one could think the entire population of Bayston Hill had just vanished. There were no people on the streets, no survivors, no neighbors and no infected. But the sound did not let David relax, something could jump out any minute, his hand was close to the grip of his revolver.

While walking David spotted that house that was still under construction, while Urquhart Street was nothing but rows of brownstone townhouses the rest of the district was mostly single-family houses with decently large yards surrounding them. On the corner of Sanctuary Street sat an old Victorian home owned by a retired couple in the later sixties. David had rarely seen any of the two outside the house, as they got closer a smear of blood could be seen on one of the windows along with red trails in the grass, leading in through the equally bloodied door. A bit further along was that home under construction, the walls were without any paint and the first floor windows were boarded shut with plywood sheets which would probably never be replaced with glass. As the started going back they took a way around, making a circle through the neighborhood to try and see as much as possible. There they passed the largest house in this part of town, a two story building owned by a wealthy young couple which seemed abandoned, there was no boarding, no sign of any preparation, but the luxurious cars were still standing in the driveway. When there were only a few minutes from returning, they went by Richard's house, the middle-aged neighbor David knew quite well. What he was however did not look well. The door was slightly opened, a large black X painted on it. There were gouges in the door and frame, a liquid with the look of dried blood on it as if someone had pounded their way through with their fists, not caring about opening their flesh on the sharp splinters. This was very bad, a flood of thoughts rushed through David's mind as he looked at the broken door, he could see the images of Richard's body, torn and shredded, like the images of his sister that had invaded his mind yesterday. After all, there was a reason why his neighbor had never answered the door, he felt a chill in his spine and his hand went to the revolver.

"Marcus, take Hussar's leash and keep right behind me, do exactly as I say okay." David said to his nephew and took a few steps up the stairs to the ominously open door.

"Are we going to break in?" Marcus asked, wide eyed as he clutched the dog's leash. Hussar sniffed at the stairs and bloodstains.

"The man who lives here is a friend of mine, his name is Richard. We need to see if anything has happened to him, maybe he's hurt and needs our help." David replied as he gave to door a nudge, it slid open with a low creak and inside there was nothing but silence. David took a cautious step inside, and now he saw that the first floor was in complete disarray. In the wall next to the door was a smattering of black holes drilled into it. The entire home is filled with a mess of tools, gadgets and mechanical parts, wooden boards lay in a pile near the door. It seemed like Richard had tried to barricade his home before whatever… attack had happened. David took a hammer from a nearby table and threw it across the hallway, it struck the wall with a loud bang, leaving a mark of dented plaster. Still no sounds came, no Richard and no infected rushing down to see what had happened. The home was still as silent as the grave.

"Okay, I think It's safe here." David said and placed the gun back in its holster. "Do you think your friend is still here uncle David?" Marcus asked with a wary expression on his face, his eyes carefully scanning the home.

"Let's look around, but always keep in my sight." David said, clearly not accepting any negotiation. As they searched the first floor they found it, a corpse bearing all the signs of the infection along with a grievous wound in the chest, frayed and bloodied by an accurate shotgun blast, it lay sprawled behind the living room couch. Marcus had found an empty shell casing not far away. As they searched further, it became more and more apparent that Richard had left after the attack. Bags and clothes were missing, most of the food and water had been taken from the fridge and kitchen cupboards but there was a thermos full of coffee still there, Richard must have forgotten it and a large bowl of chili in the fridge along with a few jars of pickles in a cupboard. All of that went into David's backpack.

"Are we really going to take the food uncle?" Marcus said in a low voice, looking as the floor as David turned to him and kneeled before his nephew, his gaze serious but not hard or bitter. "What if your friend is just away and will come back later." The boy said looking at his uncle.

"Marcus." David said in a soft yet serious tone. "It was wrong to take things like this before everything happened, but now we will need these things, we need them too and if he needs our help later we will just have to help him. But he is not here, his car is not in the garage and it's not likely that he'll be back. He's probably far away and safe with his family." David explained, even though he had no idea where Richard was or if he was indeed safe, he could hopefully at least try to make his nephew feel better. The mental fatigue wearing at David due to this outbreak was doubtlessly worse for a nine-year-old boy. "Okay." Marcus whispered, hanging his head.

They proceeded to pack their backpacks with what was there and usable, David took the thermos of coffee and proceeded to get some of Richard's tools into the tool-chest in the hallway along with some wood and metal parts while Marcus found a few boxes of crackers and a few rolls of toilet paper, all good finds. As they left the home David closed the door behind them and they made their way back. Marcus seemed in a little higher spirits as they walked down the street, the unplanned scavenging had gone smoothly and while the district was more affected than one could have thought by only looking out through the windows of one's home. It was still in better shape than other parts of town, and there seemed to be few infected. Marcus had a slight smile on his face, David walked beside him and Hussar between them. The items from Richard's home weighed the backpacks and the David carried tool-chest. The old couple's home they had walked past earlier had probably suffered a similar attack judging by the damage. The subsequent thought came to David on its own.

 _Maybe we should go see if there's anything useful over there…_


	5. Chapter 5

_Day 2 – Part 2I_

The flimsy storm door covered a second door with large window panes stained with green, red and yellow, depicting falling autumn leaves caught in the wind. David looked at the glass with a chilly, determined glare before pressing his hand against it, determining whether a sharp blow or a steady pressure would be enough to break it in order to unlock it from the inside. Marcus stood right behind him, tense and holding Hussar's leash tight as the dog sniffed the bloodied flowers that grew nearby, several other signs of a struggle in the garden were more than obvious to those with more talent to spot such details than any of the three possessed.

David smacked his forearm into the glass, the jacket should protect the limb from the sharp shards. With a loud crackle the pane shattered and broken glass clinked as it hit the wooden floor inside. After a few more strikes produced a large enough hole, he reached in and unlocked the door, opening a way into the home of the elderly couple a few blocks away. They had returned here almost immediately after unloading the supplies gathered during their former expedition, after all, there was no sense in wasting the daylight.

David stepped inside, revolver in hand, ready to raise it toward any threat but just as Richard's house, the old couple's home was silent but for the creaking floorboards under his and Marcus' boots and the patter of Hussar's paws. The interior of the home looked like it had been plucked from the 18'th century and dropped into the modern world. On the right was the living room and on couch there was a man, sitting with his head leaning backward into a soft looking pillow. One hand was placed on his chest and the second lay limp on the seat next to him, his clothes were clean and free of wrinkles. His skin was a shade of purple, and he made to response to the situation regarding an armed man appearing in his home. He must have died of natural causes, or some other circumstance no connected to the violence of the outbreak, from the hallway he had no distinguishable wounds on his body at least. To the left was a kitchen whose walls were decorated with white and lace, there was a scratching on the other side of a vintage pale lime green door, as if some small animal was clawing at it. A loud bark escaped Hussar's throat and the dog bolted toward the door.

"Hussar, no!" Marcus yelled and ran forward, taking hold of the collar and yanking the animal away from the door which Hussar had barked and scratched at.

"Hold him tight Marcus!" David exclaimed as his eyes turned toward the stairs where the sound of heavy footsteps clomped closer and closer, there is someone here, someone snarling. David quickly stepped into the hallway, gun at the ready and heart beating fast. As he looked at the top of the staircase an old woman burst into view, she was short and round, and she did not wear the infection well. A pair of crazed, bloodshot eyes stared at David as she let out a howl and hobbled down the stairs. She had short, curly black-and-gray hair and wore a soiled dress stuck to her body, a wound had bloodied her right forearm.

David raised the gun, trying the center the aim on his target he could hear the dog growling at the infected woman, Marcus's voice boomed out as he stood in the kitchen holding on to the dog to prevent Hussar from bolting and attacking the woman. "Get her uncle!" He sounded almost as excited as he sounded scared. The gun fired with a loud bang, sending forth a bullet that tore into the woman's shoulder, rending through tendons and muscles. The impact turned the infected woman and the inertia from her hobbling sent her face first into the wall. She bounced off and tumbled freely down the stairs, David took a few steps away, breathing quickly he fired again as she lay sprawled at the base of the stairs, hitting the chest near the heart. The body stopped moving and the sounds in her throat died, the old woman was staring with glassy eyes into ceiling.

David exhaled sharply, looking away from the corpse. His throat was dry and his stomach clenched, veins flooded with adrenaline and heart beating like crazy. Those shots had truly meant everything, he did not think about it when he fired them, when the fight or flight reflex controlled his mind and body, yet another relic from a much more primitive state that had not been bred out by the comfort of human civilization. The fact remained however, if he had not fired, or if he had missed. Well… maybe it was for the best that he was to distracted to think those thoughts. Marcus was looking down at the body, and Hussar was still growling at it. David walked over to his nephew, leading him back to the kitchen.

As they stepped toward the lime green door where they had first heard the scratching sound, it only grew more intense as claws rasped against the wood. Marcus held the dog's collar hard in his balled fists as his uncle yanked it open, gun in hand. There was absolutely no need for the revolver however. A few loud barks were hurled by Hussar after the fat, tabby cat burst from what appeared to be the basement and darted off toward the hallway. David peered into the basement, it was a bit smaller than he had expected from a home of this size but as he pulled the cord hanging above his head and the light came on, his face lit up a tad bit at the sight before him. The basement was well-stocked with supplies.

"Look at this Marcus." He said to his nephew who stood beside him, letting his gaze move across the shelves.

"Wow. This is so much." Marcus replied, wide-eyed. "Maybe we won't have to go to my school for stuff we need."

"Okay, let's see if there's anything useful." David said and walked down the wooden stair which creaked in protest, one last defender of the home.

There were several six-packs of soda along with a few cartons of canned foods, peaches, spaghetti, spam and other things. A large plastic tarp lay rolled up near the wall next to an almost full can of gasoline. When going through the boxes that were stacked randomly throughout the room they made a great find, a packet of water purifying tablets. They packed down the tablets and Marcus stuffed a full six-pack of soda into his backpack along with pack of batteries that he had found near an old workbench covered in dust. David took the rolled up tarp and went ahead to organize one of the cartons of cans before carrying it up to the kitchen along with the gasoline. In the kitchen they did not find much, except some containers of snacks and dry foods that David placed in the box with the cans while Marcus found a flashlight in one of the cupboards. High up on a shelf that seemed empty at first David found two cans of cola and another packet pf batteries, Marcus stuffed all three items down his schoolbag.

As the three climbed the second floor a cool wind blew past them, windows had to be open somewhere sending a draft through the house, a draft carrying a musty smell. Dim light illuminated the second-floor hallway as another gust of air blew past them, a collection of photographs and paintings both large and small adorned the walls along with a number of large potted plants who stood at attention along them. The only useful items on the second floor were found in the bathroom and came in the form of a first aid kit, a bottle of antibiotics, a bottle of shampoo and two bars of soap. As they stood in the kitchen once more, Marcus looked out through the window while David organized the supplies before making the journey home.

"Can we go home?" Marcus said flatly, not looking at his uncle as he looked at the autumn leaves dancing in the wind, his voice sounded tired.

"Just a second Marcus, I just need to pack this stuff so that we can take it all back home." His uncle replied, looking up from the items on the kitchen table and turning toward his nephew. Marcus still did not look back, in the reflection David could see his nephew's sullen look before his breath fogged up the glass.

"Are you okay, Marcus?" David said and walked up toward his nephew. Marcus pulled at his earlobe and fixed his glasses, it was very clear that he was trying to formulate a thought.

"I'm, just sad that the man and lady who lived here died." He said in a low tone, looking up at his uncle for a second before looking down at the floor. "They were here and living and fine just a few days ago, and now they're just gone… They were probably nice people and now they just dead and it's not fair, and so many people are dead, just like…" He stopped himself with a sharp inhale and froze up.

He did not even need to say the last words for David to know what he was about to say. He was about to say _like mom_. He had seen a lot of death in the last few days, he had seen his own uncle take life, twice. At nine years old it was rather surprising to see how well he had contained his emotions in the face of the complete breakdown of normal life. He was strong, like his mother.

David took a deep breath, feeling a sting inside. How could a person answer that kind of thing? He could not ignore it, he had to give Marcus some kind of answer. "It's very sad what happened. It's very sad that they died but what we need to do is be strong okay, we need to fight to survive and be safe. I know it's hard to see this but we'll be okay, nothing is going to happen to us because we have each other and will help each other survive." David said in a rather soft tone, hoping to reach his nephew as the boy focused on the thoughts in his head, David did not want Marcus to lose his humanity, but in the world that they were in for, it would not do to dwell on death for too long, there would just be too much of it.

Marcus nodded, looking up and once again directing his gaze through the glass of the window. "Okay, you're right uncle David." David then finished the sorting of the items and the three made their way back home, few words were spoken on the way. When they walked up the stairs there were scratch marks on the door but it remained locked and there did not seem to be much damage done. A trickle of blood marked where someone had torn their hand, there had been infected here. "Gross." Marcus said under his breath, looking at the dark red stain.

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They were stopped by voices from outside, voices arguing loud enough to be heard inside the house. Marcus ran up to the window, carefully moving the curtains just enough to see through. David followed and did the same. On the yard were two people, one of them was an older man, probably somewhere in his fifties with salt-and-pepper hair, glasses and a long walking stick that he used to feel the ground in front of him. In addition to the cane he was being led by a young woman with blonde hair tied into a pair of short pigtails, as they approached David could notice the blood on the man's pants, he was wounded. _Probably why he's leaning so much on her._

The girl stopped and the man instead leaned on his cane, a pained wince upon his face while the woman scanned David's home left and right, David pulled Marcus away from the window, gently closing the curtain, hoping the movement would not alert the strangers. Marcus looked at his uncle with a quizzical expression. "They could be dangerous." David said in response to the unvoiced question.

Marcus still looked quizzical. "The man looks blind, and hurt. And the girl looks like she's really nice. We should see what they want." The boy said.

David took a deep breath. "Okay, to take Hussar and keep him away from the door okay." David said and pointed to the dining room. "I'm going to talk to these people and see what they want." He walked up to the door and cracked the door open a bit, sticking his head out, left hand on the doorknob and right hand on the grip of his revolver. The girl immediately turned toward him with a look of relief.

"What do you want here?" David said harshly.

The girl did not seem to notice, or at least not care about the hostile scowl on David's face, nor the hand on the grip of the revolver. She simply hurried up to the door, stopping before the first step of the stairs. "Ohmigod, thank you." She said hurriedly, the relief clear in her tone and expression. "Our car broke down like two blocks away and I just need to use the phone real quick, my grandfather is hurt and my cellphone is out of battery. Can I come in for just a second and use yours?" Her voice almost pleading.

Still, David was suspicious about letting the stranger inside. But he found himself just as unwilling to just slam the door in her face. "You can use my cellphone." David said and the woman exhaled with a smile, taking a step up the stairs but stopping when she noticed David did not budge from the door, instead taking his phone out of the pocket and handing it over to the woman while still blocking the door with his body.

"Thank you." She said with a smile on her face and took the phone, turning her back momentarily before bringing the phone to her ear where it ringed loud enough for David to hear it. The older man hobbled over toward the sound of the woman's voice. The woman took the phone from her ear and proceeded to repeat the procedure again until a loud, insane screech echoed across the empty street, all three of them turned toward the source of the sound somewhere down the street. She turned back to David with a look of concern, handing him the phone back. "Nobody answered, and…" She shook her head. "I don't know what to do now, I… can't go back to the car with my father while the infected are out. Can we come in, please? Just for a second until it's safe."

Thoughts flooded David's head, for a moment he backed away from the door, defensive. But then his eyes turned to the blind man, head shaking in fear as he heard the threat. That got to him. "Okay, just for a while." He said and moved out of the way, opening the door, his hand did still not move away from the weapon holstered at his hip.

"Thank you so much." The woman said as she helped the man upstairs before sighing. "I can't believe that you're the first person to help us, and we walked for two blocks." David turned as he heard the steps of feet and paws, Marcus and Hussar cautiously walked into the room. David's nephew walked up to the strangers with his hands in his pockets.

"Hi. I'm Marcus." He said smiling, a smile the woman returned in full.

"Hey there little man." She said, her wide smile showing a sharp overbite, she was neither fat nor thin, clad in a red t-shirt and a pair of jean shorts. Her father, despite his visual impairment seemed to have an air of action and confidence around him. Marcus smiled and blushed as the woman ruffled his hair and introduced herself. "I'm Paula."

Hussar bounded up to the woman's knees, knocking her back a step. "Hussar! Get down!" David said in an authoritative tone.

"It's all right." She said and petted the Husky. "Are you a good boy Hussar?" She said in a high voice. "Yes you are."

David introduced himself and shook hands with the woman as he told her his name. Her father turned in the direction of their conversation, unzipping his jacket. "Listen. We don't need to be a bother Mr?"

"Carmine. David is all right though."

"Okay, David." The older man said. "Again, we don't mean to be a bother. We can pay you for the help if you'd insist and as soon as the curfew is lifted we'll be gone. My name is Graham by the way, pleased to meet you, in light of the circumstances." He said with a weak smile.

"We really appreciate the help." The woman said. "Would it be okay if I used the bathroom?" David raised his eyebrows, he was in no way comfortable with having this stranger walking about the house unsupervised in the middle of societal collapse and chaos.

"Marcus. Why don't you show Paula to the bathroom and see if she needs anything." David said with a smile to his nephew.

Marcus nodded quickly and told the woman to follow him as he ran up the stairs, small feet pounding the wooden steps. That is when her father spoke up. "I hate to ask like this but do you have first aid supplies? I cut my leg out there and I'd be so grateful if I could clean and bandage it. Like I said I can pay later."

"Sure I have a I first aid kit." David said with a sigh, these two people were here now. He might as well be a decent host and show some charity.

"Thank you, you're the only person whose shown some common decency in all this insanity." Graham said as David led him to the dining room and sat him down on one of the chairs before taking one of the first aid kits and opening it, taking out some wound-healing ointment and a bandage as Graham rolled up the cloth of his pants that covered the wound.

"This might sting a little." David said as he cleaned the wound and then wrapped it in the bandage. It was not overly deep at all, mostly just a clean line on the leg, almost as it was cut with a knife. "Did you get attacked by someone?" David asked and Graham shook his head in reply.

"I cut it on the bumper of a car, Paula said that it was jagged and bent. I just hope it doesn't get infected."

David nodded, not that Graham could see it but he could probably feel the bandage wrapping around the leg and being fastened into place. "All right that should do it, I'm no doctor but it didn't look too deep or infected, you should feel better tomorrow."

"Thank you." Graham said and rolled down the cloth of the pant leg, gently touching the wound it covered, wincing a bit at the touch before he leaned back in the chair while David packed up the first aid kit. "Can you believe all this? The infected, the curfews… everything. The things I heard on the radio were disturbing, damn disturbing." He said in a harsh tone.

"I did not want to, but I think we have to believe it." David said matter-of-factly. "I have a friend who talked about it for days on end and all I did was laugh." He smiled slightly.

"Are you armed, everyone is saying the infected are rabid, aggressive." He asked, concerned.

"Yes, I have a gun." David saw no reason to lie.

"Good. Paula is scared of guns and…" Graham laughed slightly. "I'm can't aim all too well nowadays. Hopefully we'll be safe on the street when we leave. By the way, thank you for this." He said with a gesture to his wounded leg.

"Don't mention it." David said and helped the man stand up. "Let's go upstairs, you can sit down in the couch and your daughter will surely join us soon." The two made their way up the stairs, David making sure that his guest made it up safely. As Graham sat down in the couch he raised his voice.

"Would you mind if I touch your face Mr. Carmine?" He asked before laughing a bit, probably sensing David was a bit puzzled by the question. "I want to do it to know what you look like, feeling your facial features helps me visualize it."

"Eeeh… okay." David said. Graham's hands felt warm and smooth as his fingers were gliding over his forehead, along the cheekbones and from the nose down to the lips and across the jaw.

"You're a handsome guy." He said and pulled his hands away, leaning back in the couch. "Thank you for indulging me."

That is when Marcus, Paula and Hussar entered the room, the woman walking over to the couch and sitting down beside her father. "Thank you for letting me use the bathroom, I feel so much better now." With both of his new guests here David took the opportunity to ask that they remain in this room where it is safe. Though part of the declaration was because he was still quite uncomfortable indeed with letting these two strangers wander his home as they wanted. David sat down and leaned back in another couch, facing the one Paula and Graham were occupying.

"What brought you out to Bayston?" David asked, in part to get to know his unexpected guests and in part to pass time. "You don't exactly strike me as locals." He said with a small smile.

"We were coming here to visit my sister, Paula's aunt when the outbreak occurred." Graham said, hands resting on the cane.

"She doesn't live to far from here, like five blocks down." Paula said. "She said she was going to be home this weekend but when we got there the house looked completely deserted. We waited for hour and hours but then I needed to go to the bathroom and my aunt doesn't keep any reserve keys outside the house so we couldn't get in." Her hands moved in gesture as she talked. "So we started knocking on doors but nobody showed us the kindness you did."

"When we got in the car to drive to some gas station or some place with a bathroom, but of course the car didn't want to start, so we had to go on foot and we just… kept going door to door and getting turned away until we got here. Anyway, what about you, you obviously live here, what do you do for a living?" Paula asked after finishing her story.

"I've lived in the city for four years though I'm from Arizona originally." David said. "I studied civil engineering in Pennsylvania and have worked in construction almost since I graduated seven years ago, first in Denver and then here in Bayston."

"I graduated from prep school in Denver but I never really felt like a fit in there. Bunch of trust-funded kids and then I, my parents actually worked." Paula said with a sardonic smile.

"I worked as a High School teacher down in Denver." Graham said. "Before I lost my eyesight of course." He then added with a sorrowful sigh. "I almost won the Colorado Teacher of the Year Award before that." Outside, the heavy sound of a vehicle reverbed speeding down the street, roaring like crackling thunder.

"Sorry to hea…" David was about to say before a loud roar cut him off, followed by and aggressive scream sounding on the street. The roar of a heavy caliber weapon erupted just outside of the house. Everyone immediately craned their necks toward the windows, only to hear the agitated, psychotic voices closer and closer, footsteps burst across the pavement, sounding like it was just outside the house before fading as quick as it came, the screaming sounding crescendos for a while after along with spurts of gunfire. Paula sat nervously running her hair and her father shook, taking quick breaths. David had tensed, eyes wide and hand on the revolver handle while Marcus held Hussar tight, the dog squirming a bit to get free. The woman rose from her seat and slowly moved over to the window, pushing the curtains out of the way and peering through the glass.

"Some kind of military vehicle passed by." She said. "There was like a dozen or so infected chasing them." She craned her neck, looking up the street. "They're gone now, doesn't seem like we're in any danger." She turned back to David, her mouth formed into a hard line. "Maybe… it's not safe for us to go back to the car tonight." Paula said matter-of-factly. "Could we… stay here for the night? I promise we'll go first thing in the morning."

"All right, until tomorrow morning. Then, you'll just have to go on your way. I'll try to help you to get your car running if you need it." David said. He could not support four people in his home but he did not want to throw them out there outright.

"Okay." Paula said with a nod, an expression of gratitude on her face. "We won't be a bother, I promise."

David sighed, feeling his stomach rumble, not having eaten since breakfast. "You must be hungry." He said.

"Yes, very much so." Paula said with a smile.

"I'm starving." Graham added in.

David proceeded to cook a meal for himself, his nephew and the two guests. Chicken with sweet and sour sauce along with rice, nothing fancy but enough to keep someone going. And those two people have been out all day, just like him and Marcus. Being a good host was one thing but overindulging his guests in a survival situation was just foolish. With four people in the home the kitchen table became rather crowded as the dining room table was occupied by various supplies.

"Thank you a lot for allowing us to eat with you." Paula said as she helped her father to a chair in the kitchen.

"Yes, we are in your debt." The man said as his hand trailed along the table until it bumped the silverware.

"It's like a real family dinner." Marcus said as he sat down beside his uncle, looking at the steaming food. David's brow furrowed slightly in thought at his nephew's words. Was this why Marcus hoped David would invite the strangers… could it have been some attempt to restore semblance of a full family? His mother divorced his father two years ago and now…

"David, what are you planning to do? Regarding this thing they all call the outbreak." Graham's question snapped David from his thoughts.

"I will stay here for as long as it is safe. I'm in contact with a good friend of mine, so we are going to meet up soon and find a safer place and survive there. He was always a bit of a conspiracy theorist in my circle of friends, camped, learned survival skills, carries his NRA card with pride." David laughed a bit. "If anyone knows how to survive this it's him."

Graham nodded at his words. "That sounds reasonable, me and Paula are going to head right back home and bunker down there until things calm down. Tomorrow morning we'll either get the car working or find some other way to get back."

The dinner proceeded accompanied by light conversation. After which the two guests thanked their host for his generosity and Paula helped David to clean up. Most of the rest of the day went by in silence or small conversation. Hussar laid sleeping in a corner and Marcus listened to the CB-radio with headphones on. Though the guests seemed nice enough, he still did not like the thought of leaving them in his home alone, so he stayed behind.

As night fell upon Bayston Hill David showed his guests a spare bedroom to share and asked them to stay inside their room until the morning. He checked the front and dining room doors, making sure they were indeed locked before heading up the staircase.

"Ready to go to bed Marcus?" David asked with a smile, his nephew shot up from the notebook he had been drawing in fervently.

"Yep." The boy said and gathered up his things, Hussar followed, almost tripping David in his haste to get to the top of the stairs.

"Good night Marcus." David barely finished the sentence before Marcus´ door closed. He seemed in good spirits only a moment ago. Or at least as good as anyone could feel in the apocalypse. David stood looking out through his bedroom window. In the pale light of back-alley light shone upon an infected man stumbling forward, aimlessly, hopelessly, bouncing from wall to wall, twitching and snarling. David sat on the edge of his bed, closing the bedroom door with his foot. There was a chill in the room but unlike last night he undressed and slipped under the covers, feeling the warmth and comfort of the bed, sleep overcame him. His mind was filled with dark and unsettling dreams that he luckily would not remember the next morning.

 **AN:** Whew, Day two took a long time since I've had a bit of writers block, but hopefully I'll manage to get Day Three up faster. A big thank you to all you readers out there, you give me and every other writer on this site and in the world a lot of the encouragement needed to keep writing.


	6. Chapter 6

_Day 3_

David woke up with a sharp start, eyes wide and sucking in a deep breath. Sweat coated his skin and though he could not remember any of the nightmares that haunted his mind in the night he could not shake the feeling that something was off, wrong. As he turned his head toward the nightstand he saw the blinking face of the alarm clock, electricity must have gone during the night. With the power grid fluctuating life in the city would become more… complicated. As David rose from his bed and made his way to the bathroom through the hallway he still felt a bit tired. A few more hours of sleep would have been welcome but that would not do. Chase would be coming here today and they were going to leave the city… David sighed, a heavy feeling in his chest, he would have to leave his home. He was instantly reminded of the simple luxuries he took for granted when the flipped the switch and the bathroom lights flickered, he turned them off and washed up in the dark. Today the faucet barely had any water dribbling out of it and flushing the toilet left ended up with a half bowl that barely refilled. As the sink was filled with water he only took a cup of it to wash up with, at least the soap did help him feel a bit refreshed.

He dressed in comfortable clothes and made his way down the stairs, seeing the two bedroom doors still closed he walked over to Marcus' room, knocking lightly on the door. "It's uncle David, can I come in?"

"Yes." David opened the door and saw Marcus folding clothes and placing them in his suitcase, he looked up at his uncle and pushed the thick-framed glasses up his nose. "Good morning." He said with a toothy smile. Hussar jumped up from his spot on the floor and rushed toward David, lifting his front paws from the floor and hitting his legs. The dog's mouth hung open as he panted, tail spinning in a circle.

"Are you going somewhere Marcus?" David asked, raising his eyebrow.

"I'm just being prepared. We're leaving today anyway aren't we? With Mr. Chase?"

"Not necessarily today, but it's good you are ready." David said with a proud smile. "Why don't you take the suitcase down to the dining room table."

"Okay." Marcus replied and turned his head in the direction of the bedroom where Paula and Graham had been sleeping. "I heard some weird noises from their room last night, like they were moving the furniture and stuff."

David raised his eyebrow even further as Marcus took the suitcase, awkwardly carrying the luggage down the stairs as David approached the door to the room his two guests shared. Standing there he heard two voices huddling in conversation before knocking on the door with more meaning than he did on his nephew's door. "Hold on for a second." He could hear Paula's voice exclaim from behind the door. The sound of footsteps was replaced by the sound of something heavy being dragged over the floor. David opened the door and it soon caught on a heavy dresser which they had apparently placed against the door during the night. David looked at Paula with a hard gaze.

"I'd appreciate if you didn't block the doors in my home." He said flatly.

"Sorry, we just wanted to..." She shook her head, trying to find a correct formulation before looking up once again, meeting his gaze with a flat expression. "We wanted to be sure we are safe."

"We won't be a problem anymore, we're leaving right away if that's what you want." Graham said, sitting on the edge of his bed, cane in hand and sunglasses on.

David sighed and shook his head. "If you want a cup of tea or coffee and some breakfast then come down to the kitchen, will you be ready to leave after that?"

"Yes." Graham responded. "And I'll give you what money I have in my wallet, it will cover what we have eaten for."

"We can take that after breakfast." David said and made his way down the stairs.

The power outage was apparent in the kitchen, a puddle of water had collected beneath the freezer and the fridge itself was dark and warm. As David opened it he could smell some leftovers that had spoiled during the night due to the power outage. Normally, a fridge would retain its temperature for a while, the relative warmth suggested that power had probably gone out early in the night. David made a headcount of the remaining food and threw out the spoiled leftovers before getting to work on cooking breakfast.

As Marcus helped setting the table and placing napkins by the plates, David reasoned that they all had to be hungry. David decided to make a meal with a good amount of nutrients, he and Marcus and the two guests would all need it for the day ahead. He took two cans of beans and a packet of now half-frozen vegetables and peeled a few potatoes, he made a hash with the ingredient and used some salt and herbs to give it a bit more taste before serving it with a packet of bacon fried crisp alongside bread and butter.

The four gathered around the table and Hussar finished the food in his bowl. "This smells good." Graham said while his daughter spooned some hash unto his plate before she spread some butter on a piece of toast.

"I don't like beans most of the time." Marcus said picking at his food. "But they're good for me right?" He said turning toward his uncle.

"They're a great source of protein, which we need early in the morning." David said, turning to his nephew with a smile.

"Breakfast is the most important meal during the entire day." Graham said in a calm, strong tone, as if speaking to a class of children. The tone made his daughter smile sadly. They ate in silence after that. When they were finished and the dishes were in the sink, the two guests stood by the door making ready to leave.

"Stay safe out there." David said. "I hope you get where you're going."

"Same to you. Stay safe in here." Graham said before pulling some cash from his pocket. "This what we had on us, I hope it covers any expenses and any bother we caused. I don't really have anything else to give you."

"It'll do. Don't worry about it." David said with a small smile, taking the money.

"I hope you get home safe." Marcus said, sounding sad and hanging his head. David noted that the boy seemed more pensive, that… spark of his was not shining as brightly. Maybe the apocalypse was catching up with him.

"We will." Paula said and knelt, smiling and ruffling the boy's hair. "You stay safe with your uncle." She said and stood up, looking David in the eye. "Thank you for your help." She said in a calm tone. "I mean it, truly."

"I… did what I had to." David said with a shrug and defensive smile.

"I'm glad your conscience guided you to that." Graham said, smiling. "Thank you."

The two headed out through the door into the early morning sun. A gust of chilly September air blew into the man and boy who stood behind, watching them walked out toward the sidewalk before David closed the door. Marcus walked up the stairs without a word, his uncle followed and sat down in one of the living room couches, taking the CB-radio from the coffee table and turning it on. Chase would probably call in soon. He then took his laptop and turned it on, deciding to check the news.

David could not discern how much time passed by but he was pulled from the morbidly slowed internet by a loud knock on the door. He rose and slowly made his way toward the window, Marcus beat it to him as he could hear the child's voice from upstairs. "It's Ms. Paula! She's hurt!" Small feet thundered down the stairs, David made his way to the front door, what is this? Was this a trick? Could it be? Had they even walked to the car? Marcus was standing at one of the kitchen windows, looking out. "Hurry up uncle! Open the door!"

David cracked it open and… he was not prepared for the scene at all. She looked ruined, blood on hands, arms, legs and torso, small smears on her face. Body shaken by violent sobs and face contorted into a grimace of utter pain mixed with disbelief. He could not quite discern the words mumbled by the quivering lips.

"They… attacked us, dad… it his… they…" Her eyes darted back and forth, wet with tears. David did not quite know what he was doing, his mind was paralyzed, but he apparently took one of her hands and held her upright with the other, guiding the woman into his house and up the stairs. Marcus looked at her with a frightened expression, eyes wide. "Marcus, I need you go get a clean towel and a glass of water." David said as he led the woman up the stairs to the living room and Marcus darted into the kitchen.

As Paula sat down on the couch her body shook violently with each and every sob. The tears never seemed to run out either, the pain in her voice made David's heart clench. She tried to wipe her hands on her shirt, as both were bloodied it did not help much at all. "It's his blood, it's dad's." She managed to gain enough control over her voice to make the coherent statement.

"We… were parked by some old, factory. It seemed safe yesterday." She said and pointed to somewhere outside. "It seemed safe as we approached but then… then these infected people burst from the factory and came at us. I thought we were going to die then and there but then this… jeep just pulls up out of nowhere. There were… this guy with sleeve tattoos and this red headed woman and another…" She said trying to recollect some other person. "They had this machine gun, like in a war movie and they shot at the infected who just… came apart. We thought they had come to help us."

She was interrupted when Marcus came in and handed Paula a towel and water filled to the brim in his favorite _Savage Starlight_ collectible glass. She took the things with something resembling a smile and kissed David's nephew on the forehead, mouthing a quiet thank you. He stood up and his cheeks turned a slight shade of red.

"Marcus, why don't you go upstairs while I talk to Ms. Paula, okay?" David said to his nephew.

"Yes." Marcus nodded and ran up the stairs immediately without saying a word.

"The guy with the tattoos, he tells us to hand over our things, to pay for the bullets they had shot the infected with. We didn't have anything so he just told his people to look through our car and they went through our bags, taking what they want. Dad started arguing with them, he wanted to make them stop. He told them that what they did was wrong, but they just laughed and taunted him, then a man, the driver he just pulled out a gun and…" She took a deep breath, wiping her eyes with the towel.

"After it happened I don't really know what happened, I just held onto dad and when I got up, the car was empty and… I didn't know what to do so I came back here." Paula said, shaking her head and fighting to repress the tears.

David was not sure what to say, words seemed meaningless, nothing he said or did could ever undo what had been done, and he was scared, scared of saying the wrong thing, frightened that the words would seem dishonest, that they would make him seem callous. "I… can't believe this happened, Paula. I… your dad was a good person. He didn't deserve those people's cruelty. But… wherever your dad might be now, I can't doubt that he's glad that you're safe."

The woman shook her head. "I… can't believe they didn't kill me…" She kept struggling to keep the tears at bay.

"We're perfectly safe in here."

She huffed and gave David a half-hearted smile before wiping her face with the towel once more. "Could I go upstairs and wash up, and just… rest or… take a nap?"

"Yeah." David said as if it was the most self-evident thing in the world. "Go right ahead, we won't bother you." After the day that woman has had. She deserved some time to herself, to be alone and rest. She nodded and rose from the couch, dragging her feet as she made her way upstairs to the third floor. Moments after she disappeared David could hear Marcus' voice.

"Is it okay to come down now." The child burst into the room as soon as David answered positively.

"What happened uncle?" He asked in a low tone of voice as he sat down next to his uncle, hanging his head. "Did somebody really kill Mr. Graham?" Marcus very much knew the answer, the reason behind the question was a wish to know why somebody would do it.

"Yes, somebody killed him, there are bad people in the world who will want to rob and hurt us, we'll have to stay away from them and help the good people who need it." Those were the only words David managed to come up with, he needed to be honest with the boy, Marcus had to know that not all people would be like Graham and Paula, there would be people out there who would be desperate to survive. Desperation was a motivator to do things a person would never have imagined doing before.

"You're right uncle." Marcus said after sitting quiet for a while, thinking on his uncle's words. "If we help some people maybe they'll want to help us and work with us. And we'll make a whole group like us and Hussar and Mr. Chase and Ms. Paula and we can go and live together and help each other out." David gave Marcus a smile, hoping it looked confident but this was exactly not as he had planned starting this day. The Cordyceps outbreak had claimed yet another victim and those infected with the fungus were clearly not the only threat. The law of the jungle was becoming more relevant by the very minute, human civilization descended right back into survival of the fittest. All those who would never had survived before modern civilization, those unable to adapt. They would all be dead soon enough. And David could not avoid the thoughts saying that maybe, maybe he was one of those people. Maybe he was a person whose life depended on living in a modern, wealthy country. But those thoughts were fighting a sense of steely determination. He had a duty, a duty to his family, to keep Marcus alive and safe and those thoughts made it feel a bit better. The fact that Marcus might be the only remnant of his family made that determination even stronger.

A voice crackled through the CB-radio on the table. It was Chase.

"Hey Dave." He said in a breathy voice as if he had just yawned deeply.

"Hey man, you good?" David replied.

"Yeah. I barely slept last night though so I just woke up. I've stayed with these people I met but I'm in contact with some friends who've got a nice place and these folks aren't really my type so I'm going to go over to your place in the evening, and tomorrow, then we'll go meet the rest of the people." Chase said in a tired tone.

"Also, before I forget, a cousin of mine, Jonah is in town for this conference he was attending when all this shit went down. He's stranded but is kinda close to you, so I told him to get to your place and stay there for a few days with the rest of us." Chase sighed. "I really hope you don't mind, but there's no other place for him to go. He should be at your place soon, I promise he'll be no trouble."

"Speaking of the rest of us." David said. "There's a woman here, she and her blind father stayed here last night." David explained the… episode of the morning and that Paula was probably currently sleeping in the spare bedroom.

"That's…" Chase said, trying to find words. "That's fucked up."

"Beyond all recognition." David added.

"By the way Dave, before I leave I can get my hands on some stuff to bring to your place. Is there anything special that you think we'll need, what have you stocked up with?" Chase asked.

"Get as much food and water as you can, the more the better." David said. "Other than that… maybe hygiene products and medical supplies, weapons, ammunition. What can you get.?"

"I can get food and water no problem. Hygiene products too, I can probably get a lot, I have a car so it shouldn't be a problem." Chase said.

"Okay great." David said with a slight relief.

"I'll see you soon man, and thanks again for taking Jonah in. We both owe you."

"Don't mention it Chase." David replied.

"See you in the evening, and by the way, if you're worried about supplies there's a convenience store open still open in your area, they still have some stuff I hear. Carla's, I think you know the place. They open up sometime in the afternoon and only take cash. At least that's how the rumor goes." Chase said.

"All right I'll check it out, see you later."

"Bye." Chase said and finished the conversation, the only sound made by the CB a sputtering static.

David and Marcus spent a while finding sealable containers and once again filling the discovered bottles with water from the filled sinks and the bathtub, leaving the surface water to go down the drain as just like the last time, it was covered by a thin layer of dirt and dust. Maybe it would be best to use the water purification tablets they had found before drinking any of that water? He hoped they could get barrels or something later, now they had dozens of bottles of varying size littered across the dining room table.

It was about ten am when David just happened to look out of the window and to his surprise, a man stood at the sidewalk, gaze fixed on David's home. The man stood perfectly straight, like a soldier at attention, but other than that he had no resemblance of a military man. The hair was shaggy and unkempt, a busy beard 'decorated' his face and a faded blue button-down clothed him along a pair of dark jeans. "He looks creepy." Marcus said, regarding the man warily before his face lit up. "Look uncle! He has Captain Ryan on his belt!"

The man marched up the stairs and knocked on the door. David walked over and opened it, bracing it with his own weight in addition to leaving the security chain attached. His hand was on the handle of the revolver, the man looked unarmed, but one could not take that for granted. "Hello?" David said, more of a question than a greeting.

"Are you David Carmine?" The man said holding up his hands defensively. "My cousin Chase told me to come over here." The man had a strong body odor, it could be felt even from a distance.

"You're Jonah?" David asks and the man nodded.

"I have my license if you want to see it." He says, motioning toward his pocket.

"It's okay." David said, releasing the grip on his revolver and unlocking the security chain, allowing the man to enter his home which he did with a brisk motion. Hussar started toward the stranger, head lowered and giving a low growl, Jonah stopped and froze.

"Hussar." David said in an authoritative tone. "Go lay down on you mat." And pointed toward the corner. The dog took a few hesitant steps but then trotted off to his mat and laid down.

"A well trained dog." Jonah said.

Marcus stepped by his uncle's side and waved his hand to Jonah, who smiled a white smile through the light brown forest of his beard. "Well, hey there little guy. My cousin told me about you, said you were smart like it's nobody's business."

"Is that Captain Ryan on your belt?" Marcus asked, eyes wide.

"Sure it." Jonah said. " _Savage Starlight_ is one of my favorite graphic novels."

"I love _Savage Stairlight_ , and Captain Ryan and Doctor Star." Marcus said and ran up the stairs before returning with a silver light comic, it's title page an image of a woman holding some shining orb with a wide smile on her face.

"That's the Collector's Edition of _Termination Shock_." Jonah said, pointing at the book. "Back home I have the gold version that came with the _Kobayashi_ trading card."

"Wow..." Marcus said, his mouth stuck in the shape of a large o.

"Well." Jonah said and paced the ground floor. "Y'all got your supplies gathered in one location, nearly no damage to the home, that's nice." He said as he scanned from floor to cieling and left to right. "You're locked up in here tight, no way looters or infected are getting in here any time soon. And I like the alarms on the points of entry." He said pointing to the bundles of empty cans. "All in all, I'm glad to be in this fort of yours." Jonah said with a smile and the three went up the stairs to the living room where he placed his bags by one of the couches and sat down. "Either of you want a sandwhich?" He said, reaching over to his backpack and fishing out something wrapped in wax paper.

"Sure, thanks." David said and Jonah gave a baloney and cheese sandwhich to him and his nephew. The cheese had a smooth texture and mild taste.

"Don't ya mention it." Jonah said and leaned back in the couch. "Me, I live for all kinds of meat, especially pork, if I were a pig I'd have been a cannibal."

Marcus burst out in laughter. "If he were a pig!"

Jonah quickly finished the small meal, ending it with a loud belch that drew even more laughter from the child. "Anyway, I really appreciate y'all lettin' me stay here. I won't be any trouble and I'll help. I can fix stuff up and keep the house clean and tidy."

"Don't mention it." David said with a slight smile, which soon reformed into a hard line. "Jonah, you also need to know that there's a woman upstairs resting or sleeping, she's a guest here and..." David looked up, searching for the appropriate words. "And without going into the details, she's had the definition of a rough day. I just thought you should know she's here."

Jonah nodded, a serious look on his face. "All right, I won't bug her. Good to know who's all up in the house."

"By the way. Chase said you were here for a conference or something? What do you work with?" David asked, leaning back in the couch.

"Yeah, regarding the impact of the Civil War on local Native American Tribes. I'm working towards a post-graduate degree in US History at the University of Colorado, specializing in Civil War studies. I'm from Arkansas originally though, like Chase, but my family moved here to Colorado when I was ten. So I've lived here for a while."

"You've been here longer than me." David replied. "I'm from Arizona originally and Flagstaff more specifically, only left when I was 21 to go to college in Pennsylvania." He though back to the memories with a small smile on his face.

Jonah pulled a laptop from his backpack along with a scewdriver and proceeded to open the machine.

"What are you doing to it." David said with a nod toward the small computer.

"I cracked it over the head of an infected guy on the way here, the dumb bastard was gnawin' on the leg of this old lady, granted her leg was broken and in a cast so he did not bite her per say but the pain of him wrenching it back and forth had her yellin' something terrible. So I ran over there on knocked him out. I hasn't run right since." He said and pulled out a wallet-sized hard-drive and a bundle of wires.

"Do you need some help with that." David said, eyebrow raised.

"Nah I've got it covered." Jonah replied and kept on working, flipping the laptop over and it slipped through his fingers, almost hitting the floor before he managed to get control of the situation and slamming the case against his thigh to keep it from hitting the ground. "Are you a tinkerer?" He asked looking up at David, who smiled in response.

"Very much so, I kind of even made it into my career path, I'm a civil engineer, construction."

Jonah laughed in response waving his screwdriver in David's general direction. "Guess we're sorta kindred spirits then." They sat there and talked for a while, regarding Jonah's journey here and the conference, about David's career and his time at college in Pennsylvania and later life in Colorado, Jonah was a friendly and open character.

But that's when David reminded himself of the convenience store. Indeed money still apparently had value and it was best to get the most out of it while that ringed true. He made ready to go to the store, taking what cash he had and leaving, letting Jonah know that he could make himself at home and use the bathroom to wash up if needed, something Jonah seemed to appreciate very much.

"So, you headin' out." Jonah asked.

"Yeah, Chase told me about this convenience store that's still apprently open in the area." David replied and pulled the cash from his pocket. "I thought I'd make this count." He said before stuffing the money back down the pocket.

"Good idea, I'll take a shower after I'm done with this thing." Jonah said and made a gesture to the gutted laptop on the coffee table.

"Also." David said, pulling his smartphone from his pocket. "What's your cell number? In case I need to reach you." The two men exchanged their numbers and plugged them into their respective contact list. "By the way, if Paula, the woman I was telling you about decides to come out, give her my number as well if she still has her phone."

"Will do." Jonah replied. "Good luck out there."

As David left the house along with the dog and locked up after saying goodbye to Marcus, he made his way toward his car, still parked on the driveway and set out on the short journey to Carla's store. It was only a short bit off but with the car he would be able to load up with much more supplies. Most stores on the desolate streets were closed, the little corner bakery where David would get coffee on the way to work was dark and sealed behind a metal gate. Hussar curled up in the front of the passenger seat.

David pressed the gas pedal down further, speeding him on the way toward his goal.

 **AN:** As I cannot respond to guest reviews on the site I'll answer your question here. I currently have about half a year planned out, though it might increase either as a new story or a continuation of this one. (Of course all those days won't be several chapters long) With 99.9% certainty it will be an OC-only story, but that also depends on if I decide to continue their story for so long as to match with the game's story. And last but not least, thanks for the review! :D


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